2 Cha Guards Charged With Armed Robbery

August 14, 1990|By Linnet Myers.

Two guards from GEJ Security Services Inc., a firm hired to supply protection at Chicago Housing Authority properties, have been charged with committing an armed robbery near the CHA housing complex they were guarding, authorities said Monday.

A $40,000 bond was set Monday for Lloyd Sanders, a GEJ guard who allegedly struck three men with his nightstick and robbed them just after midnight Sunday, said Dan McCullough, spokesman for the State`s Attorney`s office.

Sanders was working the night shift at the Dearborn Homes housing development on the South Side when he allegedly committed the crime, according to Wilbert Allen, CHA deputy general counsel.

Police were seeking Marcus Cooksey, 23, of 9547 S. Peoria, another guard also charged in the robbery, said Allen.

It is the latest in a series of problems the CHA has had with GEJ and other security firms, Allen said. The CHA hopes to solve the problem by hiring its own forces, he said.

CHA Chairman Vincent Lane ``is not very pleased with the level of service we`re getting,`` said Allen. ``But there really aren`t any alternatives now.`` The CHA hopes to replace most private guards with its own guards and police officers, said spokesperson Lucille Wallace. She said its first class of 104 graduated from the police academy this March.

Meanwhile, many large firms refuse to bid on security contracts involving CHA buildings, most of which are located in high-crime areas, Allen said.

``It`s not like a warehouse somewhere or a secured condominium where nothing happens,`` said Allen, explaining that the agency requires $1 million in liability insurance because of potential violence.

GEJ came under fire in 1988 when a guard injured 15 people by firing shots while trying to fend off a crowd at a CHA complex. At the time, the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation said the guard wasn`t licensed to carry a gun and accused GEJ of employing other armed guards who weren`t licensed either.

Both the CHA and the Chicago Transit Authority, which also did business with GEJ, cancelled contracts with the firm. But GEJ met the licensing requirements soon after that and again won contracts with the two agencies, officials said.

But GEJ made the news again last year when a guard was arrested for picking the pocket of a CTA rider who turned out to be a police decoy.